Prison of the Soul
by Kaiimei
Summary: Kurami had done nothing wrong in her entire life. Absolutely nothing...well, mostly nothing! Yet, some karmic bastard decided that for her presumed 'crimes', she was sentenced to...reincarnation? That didn't sound so bad. Of course, reincarnating as a demonic fox was not quite what she expected when she closed her eyes. But...at least the old guy who summoned her was kind...
1. Chapter 1

**...****I'm not apologizing.**

**Though, I will ask that people please leave reviews. I love to hear your thoughts, it seriously makes my heart jump a little in excitement when I see that email saying someone reviewed my work. Even if it's just pointing out a single error you spotted, I'll still honestly appreciate it!**

_**Chapter 1**_

* * *

"Kurami Evans."

Blinking her eyes open, Kurami took in her surroundings with a wary pair of red eyes. She was, despite being unconscious or something a few moments ago, standing upright in front of a wooden desk, which itself was sat on a faintly-glowing white floor. Sat behind the desk in a leather-backed chair was...well, what Kurami could only describe as a wraith or some kind of spirit.

They had weirdly piercing yellow eyes which glowed as they looked down at their desk. Their body was a pale white, and she couldn't make any features out, it was almost fuzzy when she tried to focus on their form. "Uhh, that's...me, I guess?" Kurami scratched the back of her neck, glancing around and keeping her senses sharp. She had absolutely no fucking idea what was going on, the last thing she remembered was shutting her computer down and going to sleep, a smile on her face. And now she was stood in front of some weird ethereal being and feeling a bit like a lab rat.

Her mind did helpfully bring up the idea that this was all some kind of dream or nightmare, then ruthlessly quashed that thought into the ground. The ground beneath her was absolutely, without a doubt, real. She'd found that whenever she was in a dream, the instant she stopped and considered if she was actually in a dream, it all fell apart, and became a playground. Since she wasn't currently flying about and shooting flying robots with pancake guns whilst they fired back with syrup squirters, she could rule out dream immediately, and a nightmare was...admittedly, more likely, but not by much.

Whilst not playing by the same rules, if she ever looked down in a nightmare, her legs wouldn't be there, and usually, a midnight-black void would be beneath her. And of course, it fell into the same trap of being that once she realized she was asleep, the nightmare would lose coherence, leading her to honestly have more fun than when she had full control of the dreams. After all, her mind was capable of surprising her at times, whereas knowing everything that happens because you are the one in control gets boring really quickly.

As she pondered this, she swayed back and forth, waiting patiently for the figure in front of her to speak. A few minutes passed, or at least they felt like minutes, might have been centuries, and the figure spoke again, in a masculine voice and leading her to mentally label the being as male, to make things easier. "Your records are...comprehensive." They clicked their hands, though she presumed fingers she couldn't actually make out any digits, the figure was still too fuzzy. "To be honest, I'm surprised you even made it here before your file was thrown down the line." Humming her idle assent, Kurami beckoned the figure to continue, stifling a giggle when they, in a very human fit of emotion, sighed loudly. "To put it very simply, you have now died."

That...definitely put a dampener on Kurami's mood. "Dead? As in, gone, kaput, not in the realm of living any more?" The figure nodded once. Running her hand through her hair, Kurami put a wan smile on her face. "Well, I guess it has to happen to everyone, right?"

The figure stared at her for a few moments. "I...suppose so...for mortals at least." Kurami's smile grew at what she perceived as a joke. "Now, as you have died, there are certain...procedures to go through. Normally, souls would never be informed of these circumstances, merely being processed without awareness then sent to their assigned reincarnation tier and reborn. You however...have 'special' treatment." Kurami shivered slightly at the tone the figure took when he mentioned that she had special treatment.

"Uhh, I'm guessing this 'special treatment' isn't a good thing?" When he shook his head, she winced. "Right. Are...can you tell me exactly why I've got this treatment?" The figure nodded slowly, pulling out another folder from somewhere in the drawers of his desk and laying it out, unsheathing from folders a multitude of pages which appeared, to her eyes at least, as blank sheets of paper. "I'm guessing there's some kinda voodoo where I can't read my own files."

He nodded once again. "Yes. To stop any unforeseen accidents slipping out, it was decreed that all reincarnation souls be unable to read our documents. After a particularly nasty incident, it was made mandatory for all documents, no matter how insignificant. Aha, here we are. Oh...dear." The tone of the spectre slid several times during his conversation. When generally chatting he seemed rather cordial. Any official business was no-nonsense. The tone he took when he read whatever he did was enough to send spider-leg feelings across Kurami's back.

"I'm...guessing it's bad?" The figure looked up, giving a single slow nod before looking down again. While she couldn't read whatever he was holding, she could tell he was enraptured by it, his head twisting slightly every few seconds to look back to the other end of the paper, reading incredibly swiftly even if she couldn't see his eyes. "Are you able to tell me still?" Unfortunately, the figure shook his head, not raising his eyes from the page even slightly. After a few more minutes, or the local region equivalent, he looked up slowly, eyeing her carefully, several times tipping his gaze back down. "Okay, so it's bad..."

He shook his head. "Bad does not even begin to cover this." Before he could elaborate on anything, something buzzed on, or perhaps inside of, his desk. Startled, the wraith dropped the folder entirely, looking first at Kurami before, with suspicious eyes, he picked the document up and laid it on the table, then pulled out a weird white object from the desk.

Laying it down, he looked at Kurami, none of his earlier humour to be found. "As I have...business to attend to, I shall be forced to fast-track this. Kurami Evans, for crimes recognized by the Supreme Herald court as abominable, you are sentenced to an eternity of combat and captivity." Before Kurami could question absolutely anything of what he just said, a white light engulfed her vision, disappearing from the office in an instant and leaving the spectre alone to sigh softly. He turned his gaze on the object, lifting it and activating the divine device. Before he could get a word in edgewise, a voice called through briskly.

"Herald, you should be receiving some documents shortly. Make sure you double-check the identity images, we have two same-names coming through today." Immediately, though he was pure white, the figure blanched, stuttering once as he addressed his direct boss, one of the scariest reincarnation agents in the court.

"O-overseer, by chance, what was the shared name?" He already had major suspicions for just who it was, and if he was right...things were not going to end up well for anyone, least of all the girl he just sent off in a hurry. He was supposed to double-check before sending any soul off for reincarnation, but he was expecting a communique for a special item, and as such was in a hurry to get her out of his office, so he skipped that.

"I believe it was a certain..."

* * *

"...Ahh, you're awake...good."

Hearing a soft, kindly voice, a far cry from the weirdly ethereal voice of the guy who just said she was a criminal and sentenced her to...'an eternity of combat and captivity', whatever that meant, she opened her eyes. Sat in what, if memory served her correctly, was the Seiza (Lotus?) position, was a vaguely old-looking man wearing robes of some kind, with a big white overcoat-looking thing thrown over the top of it all, looking at her with a smile.

Now, that in and of itself wouldn't be weird. What was definitely weird about him though was threefold. Firstly, he had white horns growing out of his head. They weren't extremely long, but large enough to be easily noticed. Secondly, his eyes were...funky. One was a weird purple ripple shape, whilst the other was a blood-red with black markings in the centre and arrayed in a circle around it. But, the weirdest thing, what really hammered home that she wasn't in Kansas any more, was the fact that he was...to put it simply, tiny.

Blinking a few times, Kurami moved her head slightly, looking around with a frown. **"Where-"** She froze. Her voice was...scary. That was the only way she could put it. She opened her mouth again to continue talking, but before she could, the old guy she was facing spoke to her.

"Kurami, you are currently in an underground...home. You are perfectly safe here, and I mean you no harm." Looking down at the tiny man, Kurami felt a tiny fraction of herself amused at the idea that this little man could ever think he would cause her harm, but her more reasonable side smashed down on that before it could before anything more than background noise.

What was...really strange though was the fact that, now that she focused on him, he felt really weird...and strong, which opened a whole new bag of worms. As she looked at him, it was like she could...feel him almost. She had no idea how to describe it, but when she focused on him, it was like she was curling up against a nice warm fire. Her staring didn't go unnoticed, and the man chuckled as he realized what she was seeing. "Ahh, yes, I should inform you of these things, my mistake." The man performed a...'Zarei', or at least Kurami thought that was the right word for it, bowing once before returning to Seiza.

Before he could do anything, Kurami looked at herself, ignoring him for a moment as she observed the...distinctly not-human body she was inhabiting. And, though she'd never admit it and in spite of the bizarre situation, she was trying her best to not squee in excitement. She had fur. Orange fur, like a fox. Her feet were in fact paws, with large orange claws curling out of them and digging accidental grooves into the stone on the ground. As she twisted her head this way and that to look at herself, she heard the elderly man chuckle.

Turning away from the...8 or so tails she could count behind herself, she put her head down, getting her face close to the man so she could see him clearer. As it was, when she woke up, she could make him out in detail, but as she got closer, she could feel his amusement at her actions. it felt...nice. Of course, whatever sense he gave off which felt like a warm, toasty fire was rather overwhelming, but she didn't let that bother her.

**"What...am I? Did you make me? Am I a fox? Foxes are adorable! Why am I so big? Do I have eight tails or is that ju-st me...?"** The man held his hand up for Kurami to stop, smiling all the smile. **"Sorry. Got a bit...excited. but seriously, a giant fox?!"** She refrained from hopping about in excitement, instead settling herself down in a comfortable position with her paws under her chin, resting her head on them.

The man waved a hand. "It's fine, I imagine this to be rather overwhelming. You are...well, to put simply, you are a portion of the chakra the ten-tailed beast wielded. I did make you, forming that body and imbuing it with chakra. You are, indeed, a fox, and I agree that foxes are rather adorable. You are so big because you must be, the chakra the ten-tails contained so immense that a smaller body would be ripped apart trying to contain it. You do not have eight tails, you actually have nine." Kurami nodded along, grinning when the man agreed that foxes were adorable, though she frowned.

**"So I'm basically a big battery?"** The man tilted his head. **"Uhh, energy storage, container, receptacle, holding thingy?"** His lips tilting down, the man shook his head vehemently.

"You are no such thing. In fact, you are the closest thing I have to a daughter. I have two sons, but I've never been blessed with a daughter. I would never put you down as being merely a container of chakra." Kurami smiled then, she could feel the earnestness of the man as he spoke, the pure angry he felt at the mere idea of Kurami being described as a mere storage container of chakra. "However, as I said, you are...a portion of ten-tails chakra. The rest is sealed within this pot." He placed a hand against the large amber pot which was sat next to him, capped off with a wooden lid and rounded by a thick white rope.

Tipping her head to the side, Kurami eyed the pot. **"Then why not just leave the chakra in there? And...what actually even is this ten-tailed beast? From how you speak, it sounds dangerous."** The man frowned, raising his hand from the pot and forming a black ball above it. **"Woah." **Kurami muttered, eying the ball with trepidation. She felt when he condensed...something inside of his body, merging several different 'somethings' together and extruding them through his hand, coalescing into that black ball. And it felt extremely dangerous, like getting-too-close-to-a-black-hole level danger.

"The ten-tails was the will of the God Tree. My mother, who is now sealed within the moon orbiting high above, stole a fruit from the tree, gaining the power of Chakra. She then enslaved the world with an incredibly powerful illusion, before giving birth to myself and my brother. We both inherited a portion of her power, less than her own strength individually but more-so when combined. We...disagreed with her decision to enslave this world, and she merged with the God Tree to reclaim her power from us. We fought, and we won, sealing the chakra of the ten-tails within my own body, casting the desiccated husk of what remained skyward, where my brother used a powerful Jutsu to form a moon. The body of the ten-tails is now at the heart of that moon, while its chakra is here."

He dispersed the black ball, sending tiny fragments cascading through the room. "But, it came at...a change, perhaps even a cost. As we fought, the techniques used...they've changed this world drastically. I suspect that not in one generation, nor three or maybe even five, but sometime in the future, the chakra which has spread will have become a critical part of all life on this world." The figure closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I have spread my ideals to the world, and I hope that, with this, people will learn to connect with one another. The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, Gamamaru, predicts they will warp this ability into a weapon to harm one another."

As the man explained all that was going on, Kurami tried her hardest to keep track of everything he said, frowning as pieces quickly clicked together in her head. **"So, this chakra spreading because of your fight will become something all life relies upon?"** He nodded once. **"And the toad sage thinks they'll just use it to fight?"** Again she was met with a nod, though this one was slower, more regretful.

"Gamamaru is well-known for his prophecies. He refuses to outright say what will occur involving chakra, but I digress. Leaving this chakra here, in one piece, would simply allow the consciousness of the ten-tails to reawaken. As such, it was decided that we would split the beast into nine pieces. The first, obviously, resides within you. Then other eight will be passed down, each piece smaller as to allow for a hierarchy. You, Kurami, are the first. You are the strongest, but this does not mean you will have the easiest job, not by a long way indeed."

Kurami tipped her head to the side. **"Wait, so we're going to be sort of like siblings?" **The man looked up at her and hummed, nodding his assent. **"Well, that'll be...interesting. So, I guess I'll be the one meant to keep the rest in line? By the way, you said the pieces get smaller as you hand them down. So, how large is mine?"**

"I would appreciate if, while you should, of course, try to keep your siblings from harm, you do not try to control their lives. Allow them to live their lives as they wish, just as you would wish to live." Kurami lowered her head in assent. "You are the strongest of your siblings, possessing nearly sixty percent of the chakra the Juubi once held. I do not grant you this power lightly. Wield it in defence, and do not ever try to force your will unto your siblings against their own wishes unless under the direst of circumstances."

Kurami could feel the latent threat in his words, quickly lowering her head again. **"I promise I won't ever try to do something like that unless I absolutely have to, uhh...I don't...actually know what to call you?"** The man closed his eyes, chuckling softly. **"Hey, not my fault. It's weird though, like I know some things, such as what chakra is, but I know nothing of the world."**

"Well, to answer your question, I am Hagoromo Otsutsuki, brother to Hamura Otsutsuki, son of Kaguya Otsutsuki. I suppose if you wish it, you may call me father." Kurami blinked, shaking her head about a little. "Do you not appreciate that title?" Kurami growled lightly in her throat, startling the man.

**"It just sounds weird...can I just call you Oto-san?"** Hagoromo smiled widely at her words.

"Of course."

* * *

According to Hagoromo, a week passed before he felt ready to channel the ten-tails chakra into the other eight 'shells', as he called them.

Right now, the shells were laying in a semi-circle in the colossal room, each one facing him and the large amber pot, completely lifeless while Kurami watched from her position directly behind him. When asked, her father explained that the Ten-tails chakra is so potent that it would gain sentience and individuality, even when split into tiny pieces. Even though she held a full 60% of the chakra from the beast, even Shukaku, Hagoromo's name for the One-Tailed Tanuki, would contain just over a single percent of the Ten-tails power and would become sentient for it.

This also led to his reason for imbuing her shell with chakra first, to ensure that she would use her powers to protect her younger and weaker siblings, keeping them in line thanks not only to her being the eldest, but also having more strength than even the entirety of her other siblings combined. it was a little daunting, knowing just how much power she now held within her, but she was also humbled by Hagoromo's trust in her will to protect her younger siblings, even if she hadn't met them yet.

With a loud clap, the Sage threw off the lid of the pot with wind, allowing a malevolent, disgusting and black ooze-like aura to erupt from the pot. Before it could do anything, however, Hagoromo controlled it, funnelling it and forcing it towards the eight empty vessels he'd created. On each of their foreheads, a complicated...'Fuinjutsu' formula was inscribed, an aide to allow the chakra to flow into the coils of the shells without complication.

If necessary he could push it through their exteriors, but that ran the risk of damaging them. As he explained, Kurami could regenerate, as could her siblings, but only to what their original appearance was. If he damaged them while infusing them with chakra, their bodies would always recognize the injury as a part of them, rending it as a permanent scar.

Needless to say, Kurami was both excited and rather terrified at the prospect of actually having siblings. She hadn't mentioned it to her father, but she could still remember her old life. As she thought about it, she wondered if all of her siblings would be like her, with minds that already had information in them, but cast that aside, as she'd get her answers soon.

She was curious as to why she still had her memories after that spectre claimed that she'd committed abominable crimes and sentenced her to this life. She had no idea what she'd done, the worst thing she could ever remember doing was spraying a man in the face with pepper spray when he tried to drag her into an alleyway, and she felt that was certainly a justified action.

**"GrRrRr..."** Kurami looked towards the noise, grinning slightly when she saw that it was the eight-tails, Gyuki, waking up first. Before they'd started, Kurami made a wager with Hagoromo. She'd bet that one of the 4 highest tails would wake up first, and he'd matched her, saying one of the lowest would awaken, probably Shukaku. They didn't really have anything to wager, so she'd bet that, while the siblings would all share this large room, he'd have to excavate a private room for her. Not that she couldn't do it herself, nor that her siblings wouldn't be allowed to, but it was the principle of the bet that mattered.

She tuned out what her father was saying, presumable an adjusted version of the greetings he gave to her, and she eyed the Octopus-ox hybrid with curious eyes. Her father didn't explain exactly what inspired him to make the shells as they were, though she did manage to eventually weasel out of him an admittance that he'd chosen a fox to be the strongest because they were his favoured animals. When she then questioned why she hadn't added Toads if he was so tied to them, he clammed up and mentioned something about not being 'allowed' to use such glorious creatures for holding tailed beast chakra, getting bopped over the head by the Sage when he suggested it.

Her howling laughter was audible even above-ground, frightening several passing travellers.

* * *

**Still not sorry.**

**Though I'll be honest, this story idea came to me, and in less than two days I'd written this chapter out. Now, Kurami is going to be strong, don't get me wrong. She's got near 60% of the Ten-tails chakra, she's the eldest of all her siblings, so has the most authority over them, and she's also got the mind of a human, so she's pretty damn smart.**

**But...things aren't going to just be sunshine and rainbows. She was told she would be in for an eternity of combat and captivity, and that's definitely going to happen. But...probably not quite how you are expecting.**

**But hey, hope you enjoyed this! War Dog C16 might be out tomorrow, maybe next week, I don't know. Just...preliminarily answering that question.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Huuzah, people enjoyed the first chapter!**

**When I first came up with this idea, I was 50-50 for if people were gonna love it, or absolutely hate it, loathe it, call me an idiot and send me to the annals of mediocrity. And I'm so happy people think it's any good! So, here's chapter 2!**

**Also, I have a Pat reon, please, if you have a few dollars/bucks/pounds/qud/whatever spare, I'd adore it if you could support me, thanks boos!**

_**Chapter 2**_

* * *

**"GRAH!"**

Using his superior mass, Son Goku tried to ram his head into Kurami's midriff, instead being blocked by a mesh of five furry orange tails which whipped around to create a shield, whilst the other four looped around and grabbed him by his own tails. Reaching them outwards, Kurami opened a small gap between her front-facing tails and the charging Yonbi, then effectively using that small space to snap her five tails out in a petal-splitting formation, the five tips ramming harshly into his head and sending him flying backwards, then having his momentum arrested and redirected downwards by her grasp on his tails, crashing harshly into the ground. "Enough!"

From his position observing the two fighting, Hagoromo called an end to their bout. **"Good fight."** Son Goku said, getting up from his fallen position on the ground, shaking his head to dislodge all of the stones lodged in his horns. **"Honestly, can't even hit you half the time!"** Laughing softly, Kurami flicked a tail to get an errand stone off his horn, suppressing her surprise at how fluid it felt to do such a thing.

**"You still got close though! If my tails weren't so strong you would have gotten me easily!"** Never to be one to take a compliment without returning one, Kurami responded quickly, then rubbed her own head with a tail. It was quite strange being so in control of her body, but, just as she had some small snippets of knowledge about things like Chakra, she seemed to have a near-instinctive way of controlling her body. It honestly reminded her of the same kind of thing as a baby horse being able to walk within around an hour of birth.

Hagoromo captured the two Bijuu's attention by tapping his Shakujo on the floor, the sound resonating across the colossal room and silencing the pair. "You both fought well. Kurami, you used your body effectively to defend and attack, and you have adopted my ideals of pacifism well. Just be mindful that no matter how many times you send a foe away, they may return once again. There is a limit to even my pacifism after all. Son Goku, your strength may not always be enough to win your fights. Temper yourself, and look underneath the underneath to find unseen paths to victory. You both have done an outstanding job, and I couldn't be more proud of you both." Blushing slightly under her fur from the praise her father gave, she bowed her head lowly, matched quickly by Son Goku.

"Now, if I am recalling correctly-" Kurami rolled her eyes, her father quite literally never forgot anything. "-you were interested in learning to control your chakra?" Bolting her head up, Kurami bounded over, coming to a stop with her nose mere meters from her father and nodding eagerly. Granted, for a human maybe a few meters was quite large, but to Kurami, who was now a colossal fox, it was much harder than it appeared to get that close to something without crushing it.

"Well, okay then. Let's start by..."

* * *

**"KURAMI! KURAMI! KURAMI! KURAMI! KURA-MPH!"**

Whacking the idiot Tanuki in the face with a tail, she smirked as his face fully de-formed then reformed, one of the benefits from being made entirely of sand, the process taking maybe half a minute. **"What, do you want, Shukaku?"** She had to carefully manage herself around her youngest brother, he had a tendency to be very aggravating, spending literal hours following her around and trying to get her to do something or another. **"And I swear, if you ask me to sing again, I'm shoving my tail in the one place that won't regrow."**

The Tanuki looked confused. **"But father said I'll alwa-ACK!"** Whacking him around the head again, Kurami decided discretion was the better part of valour, so disappeared while Shukaku wasn't able to see or hear her leaving. It wasn't that he was all that bad, it was just that she wanted to practice manipulating the mind-bendingly terrifying amount of chakra she could feel flowing within her body, not goof off with her youngest sibling.

She wasn't a work-a-holic, she was just...afraid. She once managed to sneak up on her father one day, and the way he coughed and wheezed...it scared her. He'd told her that he once contained not just the chakra she could feel within herself, but the chakra in all of her siblings. That amount of chakra was never meant to be held by a single man, and his body was now paying the toll. He hadn't said as much, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that he was cherishing every moment he could spend with what he saw as his sons and daughters.

And, once he was dead, she and her siblings would likely go out into the wider world. With her position as the eldest and strongest, she had to look after the others. If she lazed about now and later down the line Shu or one of the others got hurt or, worse killed, because she wasn't strong enough, she'd never be able to forgive herself. That didn't mean that she didn't spend any time with them, because she did, but she knew how to prioritize things, like spending an hour with Hagoromo at least once a week.

It wasn't her fault he was the only one around who gave good head scratches, and knew of the sweet spot right between her ears.

* * *

**"KURAMI!"**

Snapping her head up from where she was napping, Kurami quickly got up and trotted over to the entrance of her little room. Since she'd won their little wager, Hagoromo designed a nice little room for her to live in. It wasn't quite as big as she wanted, nor with everything she wanted either, but it was something he'd made, and she didn't want to change a thing. Besides, some parts were rather nifty. Pressing her nose into a spot on the wall, the rock receded upwards and let her see Chomei hovering outside of the door. **"Cho? What is it?"**

**"IT'S FATHER! HE WON'T WAKE UP!"** Her eyes widening, Kurami whined lightly, her claws skittering on the stone as she bolted down the hallway, Chomei hitching a ride on her back as Kurami was far faster than her siblings when she wanted to be. **"Kokuo wanted some help with a part of her room, you remember that it collapsed?"** Kurami nodded hastily, taking a corner out as she brushed past it, but completely ignoring the damage as she rushed past. **"Well she went to fathers room and tapped the seal, but he didn't respond. After a few minutes she pushed the door open herself, and he was asleep, but he didn't wake up, no matter what she did."**

Nodding along, Kurami jumped over a very surprised Matatabi, yelling over her shoulder. **"Mata, come quick, Ko says father won't wake up!"** That was enough to startle the burning cat into action, charging after Kurami and quickly hopping onto her back. As soon as she felt the weight of the cat on her back, she set back off at her fastest pace, hearing the other two conversing hurriedly on her back but focusing on getting to Hagoromo's room as fast as she could.

Turning the final corner, she saw Kokuo sitting outside the room, her tails swishing agitatedly, though they picked up in speed when she saw Kurami swerve around the corner. Before she could get a word in, Kurami had darted into the room, coming to a stop within a foot of Hagoromo's bed, having gotten better at controlling herself. **"Tou-san?"** She asked softly, pressing her nose down against his chest gently. When he didn't respond, she grit her teeth and tipped her head sideways, carefully, and to avoid crushing him, lowering her ear to his chest. After a few moments she raised her head again, but her ears were drooped.

**"Kurami?"** Kokuo asked softly, looking between her and their father. **"Is he...will he be...?" **Kurami shook her head, a lone tear rolling down her fur-covered cheek.

**"He's gone..."**

* * *

The next few days were a time of mourning for the nine Bijuu.

Several, like Gyuki or Son Goku, dealt with their grief by fighting each other. Shukaku acted rather simply and childishly, but even he wasn't immune to grief, quietly grieving in secluded corners when he presumed nobody was around. Saiken could sometimes be seen in Hagoromo's room staring at the empty bed in silent solitude. Funnily enough, the four female Bijuu, Matatabi, Kokuo, Chomei and Kurami herself, all found themselves grieving together and spending far more time together than before. All nine Bijuu could communicate mentally to an extent, but with the time they spent together and loss they supported each other through, they found the bond between them had strengthened.

For the others, the Shinso Shinn, Hagoromo's name for their connection, would stop working after a moderate distance. However, no matter how far Kurami travelled away from the other female bijuu, she was still able to contact them just fine, a strange by-product of their shared grief, but not unwelcome. At this time, Kurami took on her role as the eldest and, though she disliked it, reminded them of their fathers will, that they would experience the world once he was gone and they were prepared. They didn't need food, nor water or anything to survive, and as such could have simply sealed up the entrance to their home and forgotten about the surface entirely.

But Hagoromo never wanted that for them. He knew how beautiful the world was, telling stories of giant wolf-shaped mountains, floating islands and endless oceans, just waiting to be seen, and he wanted them to do so, to experience the world they were born into, not stay cooped up in a dark dungeon for all eternity. So it was that a week after Hagoromo Otsutsuki passed from their mortal coil and onto the next great journey, the nine Bijuu figuratively rolled up their sleeves and left their home for the great big world outside.

And...despite all the hardships they would face, none of them would say, by any stretch of the imagination, that they regretted it.

* * *

"Tou-san! Tou-san!"

Giggling, the young girl leapt at her father, spinning around him once as he wrapped his arms around her, careful to avoid letting her near his woodcutting axe. "Areta, what are you doing out here? You should be with your mother." The girl puffed a lock of red hair out of her eyes, glaring up at her father with sapphire blue eyes. Before she could say anything, the earth shook with a distant thumping noise.

On alert, the father quickly turned and placed his daughter down, drawing a small stone-hewn knife from his belt and warily watching the treeline. "Areta, go back to the house and stay with your mother. GO!" He yelled sharply, startling the girl into tear-filled action. Though he regretted making his daughter cry, he had a terrible feeling tingling up his spine, the sound of that thump indicative of something extremely dangerous approaching.

Another thump. His fingers closed tightly around his knife. The sound of several trees snapping and crashing into the ground accompanied the next thump. He wiped the sweat away from his eyes with his spare hand. Then, just as he was hopeful that whatever was creating that noise had vacated the area, a colossal face loomed over the trees and peered at him, his jaw dropping and eyes widening in terror. **"Oh, look Kurami, it's a human!"**

Another thump, and a second face appeared beside the first, looking down at him. **"Yes yes Matatabi, it's a human. Ahp ahp ahp!"** The colossal fox used a tail, of which the man noted idly that it had nine tails, to hold back the giant blue cat. **"Remember what father said, normal humans are nowhere near as strong or durable as he was, if we got too close without holding our chakra back, well he just might explode from the pressure."** Wiping the oceanic-level of sweat off his forehead, he cleared his throat.

Both beings looked away from each other to peer down at him, but he gathered his courage and spoke. "E-excuse me, but...w-what are you creatures?" Immediately the blue one growled, though still held back by its companion, something which brought a little relief to the poor man. After peering at the blue cat for a few moments, the fox turned to face him, keeping its distance but lowering its head down to better see him.

**"Well, introductions are in order I guess. I am Kurami, nine-tailed fox and eldest sibling of the Bijuu. This pretty kitty~" **Said cat hissed, getting swatted lightly with one of the foxes tails in response. **"-is Matatabi, as I'm sure you heard, who is the second youngest of my siblings. Now that we have introduced ourselves, I believe the polite thing would be to introduce yourself, yes?"** Though he was still terrified of the two Bijuu, he nodded quickly, inwardly confused at how weirdly eloquent the foxes speech pattern was.

Gathering his thoughts, he put his knife away, reasoning that he'd do basically nothing to either beast at any rate. "Well met, I am Hasara Denso. I do not know what you speak of when you say Bijuu, but...by chance would you be in any way related to the legendary Juubi?" The one named Matatabi hissed at that name, and though it was far less evident, the one called Kurami looked displeased at the mention of the famed beast. "I meant no offence, the Juubi is merely the only beast I've heard a tale of which would be in any way called a Bijuu."

**"It is alright, and I suppose you could call us the descendants of the Juubi. I will not elaborate for much of it would go straight overhead without copious amounts of content, but suffice to say we are in existence because of the existence of the ten-tails."** Kurami lowered herself onto her front paws, taking up a comfortably-seated position, though because of her size her head was still higher than Hasara by a good margin. **"If I may, I believe the young girl currently approaching us is family to you in some way?"**

When Hasara swivelled around to look out at the trees behind him, he spotted the bright red hair which marked his daughter out to him in clear contract to the rest of the forest. Against his instincts to get her as far away from the two giant creatures behind him at any cost, he allowed her to approach rather than scaring her off. **"Ohh look Kurami, she's adorable!"** The more...excitable of the two Bijuu chirped, wiggling in place but being held back by her older sibling's tails. **"Aww, no fair!"**

Smirking to himself, he watched his daughter pick her way through the forest, eventually coming to a stop hiding behind a tree and peering up at Kurami and Matatabi with wide, awe-filled eyes. **"When you can control yourself enough to not accidentally kill them, you may get as close as you like. As it is, even though I have the most chakra out of all of us, I seem to be the only one who actually tried to control it in any measure. I did warn you all, as did father, that when we got outside you'd regret not training yourselves."** With a final flick of her tail, she pushed Matatabi back a little, just enough to be confident that her naturally-emitting chakra wouldn't harm the humans.

"Tou-san...w-what are they?" The little girl spoke softly, but Kurami could hear it with ease, smiling gently as she stepped into the small clearing, careful to avoid knocking down trees unlike Matatabi, who let her excitement get ahead of her more often than not. She watched with gleaming eyes as Hasara beckoned his daughter forwards and took her into his arms, slowly walking towards Kurami, who had to resist the urge to squeal at how cute the little girl was, instead lowering her head down so her chin was on the ground, most conducive to actually seeing the little girl with how small she was.

**"We are Bijuu little one."** She smiled lightly as the girl's eyes somehow got impossibly wider, her jaw dropping as she stared up at her. Even as low as she saw, her eyes were still far higher than her father's head. Looking at Hasara who had a questioning look, she nodded gently, watching him slowly put his daughter down, his eyes never leaving her form as she approached. The little girl jumped slightly when one of Kurami's tails flicked Matatabi, who was, despite the warnings, getting steadily closer in her excitement. **"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."**

Nudging her nose forwards slightly, she came to a stop beside the girl, smiling as she hesitantly reached out and put her tiny hand against Kurami's fur, her trepidation overwhelmed by the sheer awe in her eyes as she brushed the fur on her face hesitantly at first, then getting more and more confident. "Wow." She breathed, looking between Kurami and the fur she was holding onto. Tipping her head to the side, Kurami flexed her ears towards the girl, unconsciously purring as her hand immediately found the sweet spot between her ears.

**"Now who's a pretty kitty~?"** Matatabi's smug voice called from behind her, one of her tails flicking out to bop her on the head. **"Ow! Oh, so you can call me a pretty kitty and I can't call you one?"** Rumbling her agreement, the giant cat huffed.

**"Yep, I'm the oldest, it's my prerogative to embarrass you. Now, hold on tightly."** Surprised, the little girl holding her fur gripped hard, yelping in surprise as Kurami tipped her head up straight again, easily lifting her atop her head. She kept low just in case the little girl didn't have a strong grip, grinning at the look on Hasara's face. **"Don't worry, you're alright."** While she couldn't see it, Kurami knew the girl probably had a somehow even more awed look on her face. Feeling hesitant steps on top of her head, she kept steady as she slowly walked backwards.

Carefully, Kurami adjusted herself and rolled her body slowly, allowing plenty of time for the girl to keep on top of her, ending up on her side and able to look backwards to see the girl. "So...COOL!" The little one hopped in place, then flopped down and rolled across Kurami's side, giggling. "Its so fluffy!" Suppressing her laughter a bit, she softly hummed, eliciting another giggle from the young girl, before she turned to look back at the girl's father.

**"Well, she certainly seems happy."**

* * *

**"Hey there Cho."**

When asleep, the four female Bijuu all agreed that they'd spend that time within their 'Psychic Plain', giving them the chance to talk with each other. Of course, since the four Bijuu didn't need to sleep too often it was unlike that they'd actually encounter each other, but just in the off-chance that two or more of them went to sleep at the same time, it was a nice way to be able to keep in touch. **"Hiya Kurami."**

After they'd left the cage, the Bijuu all split up, with Shukaku, Kokuo and Son Goku heading north, Isobu and Saiken to the south, Chomei and Gyuki to the west, while Matatabi tagged along with Kurami to head east. They all had no real plans, they all just wanted to explore the world, so they picked random directions and left. It only took a few days travel from their home cave to reach the coastline, running into a few scattered human groups, some mere families whilst others were minor settlements and clans.

**"Guess what Gyuki and I found?"** Raising her eyebrow, Kurami waited for Cho to elaborate. After a few moments, the insectoid-like Bijuu slumped with a whine. **"Kuramiii~! You're meant to ask what!"** Chuckling, the fox Bijuu just shrugged. **"Well whatever. Remember how father said that chakra from his fight was spread out? Well we found a guy who used it to spit fire! He could use it to light campfires, and scare away other things like wolves, he even tried to use it on us!"**

Humming, Kurami eyed Chomei. **"Cool, I guess. I mean, father did warn us that it would spread, and that even with our power we should be wary to not get conceited or anything, since while we have overwhelming power, humans are smart, they can use even a fraction of chakra to achieve pretty incredible things."** Chomei began hopping about excitedly.

**"That's just it, he had so little chakra! Like, less than what Shukaku has in a single grain of sand levels of little chakra!"** With another shrug, Kurami curled back up, tipping her ears so she could listen as Cho excitedly chattered on about how he could use such a tiny spark of chakra to generate something like fire. She continued listening, but her mind was working away at disseminating what that man was doing.

While one part of her scoffed at the notion of someone possessing enough power to beat her in straight-up combat, her human side smashed that down harshly, reminding herself that her father managed to, with the help of his brother, defeat a beast possessing more chakra than her. Granted, the beast was apparently insane and unintelligent, easy to lead into traps, but it still stood that they managed to seal it into Hagoromo then split it into nine different beings.

If those two could do such a thing with what they had available to them, it stood to reason that one day somebody would come along capable of fighting the Bijuu. So, determined not to be caught unawares by this, Kurami made a note of where Cho said the man was, enforcing in her mind the need to visit him and learn exactly how he was using chakra to create fire. The only things the Bijuu could make of their chakra were giant condensed balls of pure chakra, which acted like atomic bombs, exploding to release the immense energy contained within.

Perhaps some insight into how that human manipulated his chakra would help her on this course.

* * *

**So, Hagoromo died.**

**The tailed beasts have left their home and are now roaming around in the Land of Ancestors, meeting people, and finding interesting innovations the humans came up with. As the only Bijuu truly worried about the future, Kurami will be trying her best to learn how to control and emit her energy to defend herself and her siblings.**

**Because she still remembers what that ethereal being said. An eternity of combat and captivity...**

**But hey, this is fun to write! So happy to hear people enjoyed chapter 1. It really warms my heart to know people liked it. If you really loved it and want to support me, please, check my pat reon out on my profile, I'd really appreciate any support you all can give me!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Man, I really burn out fast on stories now.**

**Sorry for the super-duper-long delay, War Dog and the subsequent stories really just dominated my time.**

_**Chapter 3**_

* * *

**"Hello there."**

Kurami watched with keen eyes as the man steadfastly avoided dropping the deer carcass he was carrying, turning around slowly to see her blood-red slitted eyes peering down at him through the foliage. To his credit, he honestly didn't seem that surprised, presumably because Cho and Gyuki had already met him. "Good...morning." He replied warily. Kurami could sense him building Chakra inside of his body, converting it to fire nature inside of his lungs.

Humming, Kurami avoided the fireball he spat out suddenly, having been basically forewarned thanks to the Chakra she could feel within him. **"That's...impressive. You took the Chakra in your body and managed to...but..."** Whining slightly, Kurami drooped her ears, one paw rising up to rub her head. **"Chakra mechanics, why do you not make sense?!"** She ignored the fact that the man was gawping at her, fire-natured Chakra building up in his lungs again. **"So, you...oh."** Looking deeper, Kurami could mentally feel the coils of Chakra within the man.

They were almost hot to the...well, not touch, but they felt warm when she sensed them. Considering the absolutely pitiful amount, she could have been excused for barely feeling his presence, but unlike her overconfident siblings, Kurami had spent plenty of her time with their father learning how to sense Chakra, how to mould it, then how to expel it, so finding him wasn't that hard, as he was the only person she'd sensed even using Chakra unconsciously. As soon as she felt that heated Chakra building within him, it was a cinch.

In all her fathers lessons though, he never revealed how to actually change the nature of her Chakra. For what reason, she didn't know. Perhaps he wanted to leave her with at least some of the basics to learn, or maybe he just didn't want to know what would happen if Bijuu Chakra was converted out of its default nature. Regardless, what the man was doing wasn't actually converting it into another nature. Instead, he was taking the un-natured Chakra, running it through his coils, then placing it within his lungs to expel it, using a thin lining of un-natured Chakra to sheath his throat and protect against the flames.

She knew that, because the second time he tried to expel a fireball at her, she watched carefully, sensing the thin skin of neutral Chakra acting like a channel for the fire-natured Chakra to fly. If he didn't protect his throat like that, then he would have literally burnt his own throat out. Tipping her head to the side, Kurami avoided the fireball, frowning to herself. **"Well, this sucks then. I still don't know how to actually make that stuff..."** Since he was using what she now dubbed as a cheating bastard way of changing his Chakra, she couldn't copy it, meaning she was stuck with her neutral and bijuu-natured Chakra.

Her neutral Chakra wasn't really capable of much, as Hagoromo explained that it was a perfect blend of Yin and Yang Chakra. He even remarked that perhaps, with time and experience on her side, she might one day be able to replicate his own feat, to use the Creation of All Things Technique. She was able to bring something to form just fine, but creating life was...far beyond her. Giving something in her imagination form was actually how she had excavated extra space within her room, using a bastardized version of the Creation of All Things Technique, but in reverse. To excavate matter, rather than create.

It used both Yin and Yang Chakra to do such a thing, using the imagination of her Yin Chakra, alongside the physical energy side of Yang, to bring what she saw to life. Or rather, to destroy that which she saw. When she showed Hagoromo what she had accomplished, he was...surprised at her actions. She had proverbially flipped the table, admitting to Kurami when prompted that he didn't actually realize that just as he could create matter and breathe life into things, he could also bring total destruction onto his target. Kurami had comforted him with the reminder that he had made that technique with the intent that it was to be his last ever creation. After creating the nine bijuu, he knew his end was near, and he wanted to spend his final days and weeks not fighting, but instead watching his surrogate children.

Turning away from the little fire-wielding man, Kurami wandered off. It wasn't like the Bijuu were actually Hagoromo's children. He actually had children of his own, estranged as they were. One, his eldest, had run away after Hagoromo had bequeathed his blessings and a portion of his own power unto his other son, swearing vengeance. The other, who Kurami had seen only once before the fact, had actually come to the cave when Hagoromo passed away to say his final goodbyes.

And what amusing days those were...

* * *

**"Oh, hi."**

Looking down from where his eyes were tracking along the ceiling, Asura suppressed his instinct to retreat from the powerful beast in front of himself. He had met Kurami once before, in these very caves. His father had brought him here once, wanting somewhere safe to grant his son his power, where they entered a vast hall. Having travelled through walkways which looked fit for giants to walk within, the sight of the immense hall, whilst still impressive, was slightly less surprising as it would have been, had there not been equally massive hallways and doors on the way there. "Kurami, I thought I told you I wished to be alone with my son for this." He had said seemingly at nothing.

An irritated rumble sounded out, loud enough to make him wince and flick his eyes around. **"But it's comfy in here!"** The voice whined. Whined! It was loud enough that he was sure the villagers out in the world above heard her speak, yet it was whining. Then again, it was to his father which the voice spoke, so it was understandable that she not be belligerent. He turned a questioning gaze on his father, the unseen speaker still, well, unseen.

"Don't mind her. Well, are you coming out any time soon Kurami?" A stone-scraping noise and another irritated huff sounded out, before from one of the darkened corners, a mass of what he originally assumed was perhaps some kind of hay or other material began shifting, eventually unfurling to reveal Kurami in her full glory, as a giant fox. "Don't worry, she won't bite...much." He amended, snorting at the sudden terrified look that shifted onto Asura's face. Kurami made a high-pitched yipping noise, bounding over to the pair in two short hops and coming to a stop above them, craning down to look at them.

Completely at ease, Hagoromo reached an arm out to rub the underside of her chin, earning a contented whine from the giant fox. "F-father, I-uh, you..." Hagoromo grinned, grabbing his sons arm and dragging him up to stand beside Kurami's head. His father had berated him on judging Kurami based on her size and power, all but forcing him to pet her.

Of course, just because he knew her to not be dangerous didn't mean his natural instinct didn't lead him to be uncomfortable in her presence. "Hello again Kurami. I wish it were under better circumstances." The giant fox nodded slowly, her ears drooping. "So it's true then?" She nodded again. "I was hoping I felt it wrong, that he had simply become weak and not visible to me any more...may I see him?" Kurami nodded a final time, unfurling her tails and revealing the path. "Would you join me?"

Kurami tilted her head. **"Wouldn't you rather be alone to say your goodbyes to him?"** Asura shook his head, a faint smile playing across his lips.

"I have already said my goodbyes. Now I just wish to see him one final time before he's gone forever. Did you already-" Kurami cut him off.

**"I placed him within his sarcophagus, as per his wishes. What do you take me for Asura?"** He shook his head. Of course Kurami would have done that, out of all the Bijuu she was the one he knew would honour any wish his father spoke, no matter how outlandish. If Hagoromo had asked her to place his body on the moon Asura was sure she'd have already started trying to make her way there. Such a simple thing as placing his body within a specially-designed resting place was a trifling task for her.

The pair made a little small talk as they traversed the cavernous hallways which the Bijuu called home, though most of it was Asura talking about his small but swiftly-growing village, with Kurami occasionally making mention of things which have changed in the Bijuu's lives, though as they were still living within their cave at this time, there wasn't much change.

Coming to a stop in front of a wall which, to anyone else, was plain and blank, Kurami settled back on her haunches, watching as Asura pressed his hand against a wall. A few moments later it flashed a faint white, receding the stone to reveal Hagoromo's burial chamber, a large stone sarcophagus in the centre, the lid sealed. "I had wished to come before it was closed...but alas, it doesn't matter."

The sarcophagus wasn't just made of stone. Using his knowledge of Fuinjutsu, Hagoromo had created a nigh-impregnable cocoon for his corpse, knowing that in future, his body would be sought by those who would seek to gain power through any means, and wouldn't hesitate to rob a grave. He still held hopes that people would live together in peace, but he wasn't so foolish as to simply be buried, taking these few precautions was a prudent measure.

**"I-uh...Asura, if you don't mind...I don't like being in here too much, so I'll wait outside, yeah? I've said my goodbyes, and I don't want to dwell on his passing too much."** Nodding, Asura listened to the heavy footsteps that denoted Kurami leaving the large room, the stone wall sliding close to give him privacy.

If he heard her breath hitch, he didn't say anything.

* * *

Dropping down onto her side, Kurami grumbled, the area around her pockmarked with craters.

She was trying to extract a bare fraction of her total Chakra, but even the most minute amount she could eke out was still enough to blow up an area larger than a car. The amount the man used, by comparison, was barely enough to make a fist-sized hole. That told her that her siblings would likely have it even worse, since while yes, they had vastly less Chakra than she did, none of them had done any sort of control exercises, meaning they would likely be expelling far more Chakra for a long time before tempering it, if they ever did of course.

Drawing out her Chakra again, she tried to peel away as much as she could and return it to her coils, leaving only a small amount before then expelling it out of her paw, blasting a smaller crater in the ground. The main problem was she had so much Chakra that she really just couldn't extract a small enough amount to do anything with it. If she could get a small enough portion, she could then hopefully work out a way to change the nature of that small sliver of Chakra before expelling it from her body, thus producing the same sort of attack the man had used against her.

Once she got it working with a small amount, she could then increase how much she used to learn what degrees of attack were reasonable. If she just carelessly used her Chakra, she held no illusions of not causing the equivalent of a natural disaster just because she wasn't careful. The man who had used that fireball technique on her barely registered as an atom compared to her power, which meant if she pulled the same technique out, she would probably set fire to the continent itself.

What she knew would trip her up was actually changing the nature of her Chakra. It was a perfect Yin-Yang balance, which meant manipulating it would be a cinch, but she had absolutely nothing to go off of in terms of actually doing said re-naturing. The best she could hope for was to just practice a bunch of different methods and see what worked.

Growling, she glared at the newest crater, slamming her jaw down against her paws and whining for a moment before getting up and shaking herself off, reaching out with her mind to sense which way Chomei and Gyuki were. They were both in the area, having headed north to explore, and while they had now split up, they hadn't gone too far from each other. Matatabi was still way back east enjoying lazing about on the coastline.

She trundled off in that direction, carefully to not knock down literally every tree by sticking to fields wherever possible. Curiously, she had figured out that by using Chakra under her paws, she could stop herself from accidentally leaving massive tracks behind, which she then told the others by using the Shinso Shinn. The fact they couldn't use Chakra like she could just gave her fuel to annoy them by pointing out that she had warned them all, but that none of them had taken her up on her offers to join her for Chakra Control lessons with her father.

On the way, she passed by a small group of travelling humans, all of whom gawped at her. It was a shame that humans naturally feared her despite her attempts to dissuade them, but the fact she had blood-red slitted eyes and sharp teeth probably set their fight or flight instinct off fiercely. As she travelled, she continued to practice drawing out her Chakra into a tiny quantity, managing to thin it down enough to where she only made a crater about the size of a bowl, and decided that was good enough. She began practising at trying to pick away that exact amount of Chakra from her unemptiable reserves and immediately forcing it out, without spending ages slowly thinning her energy out.

The first few times she did that, she was back to lorry-sized craters, but quickly got the hang of doing it. 'Quickly', of course, meant she did it over the course of several days and nights of walking. It was a bit boring, sure, but if she could choose how much Chakra to draw out of herself, she could use appropriate force for a dangerous situation. The others would only be able to expel a large mass of Chakra, likely pulping anyone who got near.

Good for defence, bad for diplomacy.

* * *

After visiting Gyuki and Chomei and spending a few days with them both, whilst snickering at their whining, Kurami ended up heading even further north.

She hit an ocean, but with Chakra she was able to simply create a bubble beneath her paws and walk upon the surface. Or at least, that was the theory. What actually happened was that her weight simply put down too much weight, so she had to make less of a bubble, more of a giant plate beneath each of her paws, increasing the surface area and allowing her to walk without displacing metric tons of water.

Wandering across the ocean for a while was interesting, especially dipping her head under the water and watching all the life under there as it went absolutely nuts for a while before calming down. There were sea animals of pretty much every kind, like sharks, octopi, regular fish, and all manner of other living beings, which was interesting, since that led her to believe that life here evolved pretty much as it had at home...with the exception of no Chakra obviously.

Eventually she came across a new landmass, one entirely covered in pure snow. She indulged herself a few times rolling through dense snowbanks, since with her thick fur and the fact that the environment didn't have much of an effect on her as a literal living mass of Chakra, she didn't have to worry about the cold. Kurami made sure to wait for a while in the Shinso Shinn to tell the others what she'd found, since the other female Bijuu could find the others at some point and tell them what was up here, even if she was too far to reach them.

She stayed up there for a while watching the scattered few tribes of humans, a few of whom had Chakra of their own, though only the youngest, none of the oldest having been conceived after the Ten-tails got sealed. Kurami tried to recall how long ago it had been, and found that the time had slipped her mind entirely. It wasn't a huge deal, she still knew what had happened, but forgetting that was a bit irritating.

None-the-less, she stuck around for a while watching the tribes, until one day an unpleasant surprise was waiting for her.

* * *

With a yawn, Kurami lifted her head, stretched, then got up.

She had been resting during the nights when nothing interesting happened in a cave a little while away from the tribe she was watching, since while she liked the snow, waking up with waterlogged fur wasn't very fun. She rolled her jaw and stretched again, then wandered up out of her cave, only to stop and blink in surprise. There were a few of the tribe children laying down in the snow, and they weren't moving.

Suspicious, Kurami sniffed around, reaching out to try and sense anyone nearby, but couldn't detect them. She cautiously left her cave and walked towards the still children, each step getting slower as she became more focused on them. Lowering her head down, she sniffed them, growling when she detected only coldness. her head raised up, looking towards the direction of the village, her mind trying to figure out what exactly had happened, and only coming to a single conclusion.

Someone must have seen her, and in their fear the tribe had likely believed that a sacrifice would keep her, an 'angry spirit' at bay. It made sense to her, after all. If the real outcome was different, such as those children simply being foolish and dying for it, then that was a tragedy, but acceptable. She nosed the children a few times just to see if perhaps they had simply been faking it, and when they showed not the smallest amount of a reaction, she had to resist the urge to growl.

As calmly as she could muster, she began approaching the tribe she had been observing. Unaware to her, she had begun leaking out her Chakra passively from her anger, making the nearby small animals flee, whilst larger ones acted with fear, but without outright fleeing the area. She was a little too focused on trying to think of alternatives to what had happened, and ignored the rustling of rabbits and foxes running from her.

The tribe had set up in a wide-open clearing, a large gap separating their homes and the treeline, presumably to make to easier to keep animals away from their stores of food. Peering into the tribe through the trees, she could almost feel the agitation and fear radiating from a large portion of the populace. But, not levelling her judgment yet, she got closer, attempting to hear any conversations going on.

Hunters and gatherers should have been making their way out of the village soon, but as she got closer, she could see that very few had their bows, ropes or pouches. Eventually, she could make out the chief speaking. She only caught the end of what he said, but that was enough to cement in her mind that this was no accident. "-ssured the beast will be sated for another year. Now, return to your duties, and be thankful for the sacrifices made."

Sacrifices to the beast sounded pretty much like those young children, not even teenagers, had been given to her like she was some kind of wild animal they had to keep fed or be destroyed by. She allowed herself a moment of self-anger at the fact the tribe even knew she existed, she should have been more careful, before her anger at the tribe returned.

It honestly disgusted her that these people could give up their own children, their own young, just off the misguided belief that it would keep her satisfied, keep her at bay. Well, they were about to learn a very different lesson. Uncaring of the noise, Kurami pushed her way through the forest, knocking over trees as she approached the village. She broke the treeline, watching the chief as he spotted her and went pale, falling to his knees.

Drawing upon her immense well of power, Kurami drew out a small portion and spat a ball of black Chakra directly at him, causing an explosion that singed her fur and dropped her downwards as a huge crater was formed, her body being above it. She blinked, landing on her feet and staring at the lowest point of the crater. Taking a hesitant step back, she turned and ran up the wall, jumping out of the crater and turning to look at the devastation she had caused.

The entire clearing had been vaporized in a single instant, and so had a good portion of the forest. Shivering, she turned away from the cratered remains of the tribe that had angered her in misguided fear, and walked away with her tails hanging low. She hadn't meant to do that, she just got so angry at the senseless deaths of children and wanted the man dead for it, forgetting just how powerful she was.

And just how fragile humans were.

* * *

**Well, that was a rollercoaster.**

**Sorry for making you all wait so long, a glorious patron of mine got interested in this story and so I decided it'd been sat at 2.5k words for too long and decided to crank this out. I sincerely hope you enjoyed!**


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